December 6, 2022

To: Lithia Hyundai From: Jack Forshee Anchorage, Alaska 16729 Marvin Circle Anchorage, Alaska 99516 907-240-1685 call or text

To Whom It May Concern:

Our family has purchased three Hyundai’s in the last 15 years. Two were brand new from the dealer “Lithia” here in Anchorage. Our first was a used vehicle and a great little car, not a purchase from Lithia.

The second was a new 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. Again, a great little car. If you put studded snow tires on one of these vehicles, in my opinion, it becomes one of the safest, best traction vehicles I’ve ever driven. In Alaska, safety and traction are directly related.

Our third Hyundai is a 2018 Tucson bought new. Again, a great little car.

Both new Hyundai’s were purchased with the “factory 100K bumper to bumper, including oil changes, etc.” warranties. These are my daughter’s cars. I bought the warranties because they wanted them, not me. I know how car shops work. I know how auto warranties work.

We have had nothing but problems with our “Lithia” Hyundai dealer. Every time. No matter what the issue, even a simple oil change, we’ve had to “arm wrestle” our way into service. No one has ever touched either of these vehicles EXCEPT LITHIA HYUNDAI. My youngest daughter, the owner of two Hyundai’s, one used, one new, has recently sold her 2008 Hyundai and bought a new Subaru BECAUSE of these dealer warranty and service problems. NOT BECAUSE OF THE CAR. She actually preferred the new 2022 Hyundai but refused to deal with Lithia.

On Halloween day, October 31, 2022, my daughter of the 2018 Tucson dropped her car off for service and a suspected transmission “noise, slipping and malfunction” needing inspection and repair. My daughter got her car back on December 1st.

Upon receiving her car back from Lithia after a month long hiatus of misleading, misinformed, and very misguided advice, scheduling and actual warranty repair, she was happy to get out of the smaller, studless, “stinky” sedans issued as “loaners” and back to her child friendly, delivery sized Hyundai with studded tires. Thank you for that much anyway.

Yesterday, December 5th, 2022, she called me from the highway at 6:30 a.m. while doing her morning business deliveries. Her breast-feeding infant and diaper-wearing toddler were in car seats in the back. My daughter told me a noise was coming from under the hood, sounded like something rubbing and it keeps getting louder the more she drives, what she should do?

I asked her if the car drove normally? Good steering, no wandering, no wobble, no shimmy? Brakes good, not spongy, no squeeking? Any smells? Any other noises? Temp gauges ok? Oil lights? Idiot lights?

“Nope, all good” she said. I explained to her it’s probably something spinning, or something rubbing up against something spinning. Get out and look around. She did, nothing was seen.

At that point, I told her to drive it home and call Lithia. I also explained to her how some of these shops work. #1. You paid in full, years in advance for the warranty, there is no desire or incentive for the dealers to fulfill their contractual obligations, BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAID. #2. The kid actually doing the work is most likely not making a living wage, probably not adequately trained and/or works unsupervised and probably left something in the engine compartment or didn’t tighten or install one of the “hard to reach” bolts or nuts. #3. I told my little girl to gently drive it home and park it. I DON’T WANT YOU DRIVING IT UNTIL IT’S BEEN INSPECTED.

I am a mechanic of my own business vehicles and equipment FOR OVER 40 YEARS. Everything from atv’s, boats, trucks, and cars to heavy equipment (forklifts, dozers, etc.), both diesel and gas engines. I know, my own mechanics pull this s*** on me all the time. It happens.

When Amber got home, she texted saying they were home safe and sound and that the noise had stopped. She said it sounded like whatever it was fell off. AGAIN, I said, “DO NOT DRIVE IT”.

That’s not the problem. Yesterday, when my daughter called Lithia and explained the situation, they scheduled her to “bring it in next Monday”. THIS IS THE PROBLEM. The more I thought about everything, the more concerned and angry I became, both for my daughter and her family’s safety, and, what the hell is she supposed to do? Drive an unknown mechanically defective vehicle until next week? NO. THIS IS NOT SAFE AND NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I went in to Lithia Hyundai yesterday morning. I explained the situation to a couple of different young men and expressed my concerns. I told both of them, and I repeat:

1) I DON’T WANT MY DAUGHTER OR MY GRANDKIDS DRIVING IN THIS VEHICLE ANYWHERE. NOT TO THE STORE FOR DIAPERS, NOT TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR. IT IS NOT SAFE.

2) I WANT THE CAR PICKED UP AND TAKEN BACK FOR REPAIR.

3) I WANT A REPLACEMENT AWD VEHICLE OF LIKE KIND AND SIZE WITH STUDDED SNOW TIRES, JUST LIKE HER CAR, DELIVERED UPON PICKUP OF THE OTHER. We bought her vehicle for a reason. Her mother lives on top of a mountain, so do I. I have studs on all of my vehicles, so does her mother. There are times I can’t get home with my 1-1/2 ton, 4x4 diesel Ram dually. Same with her mother and their 4x4 truck, awd Toyota and suburban. A “sedan” with “all season tires” for a loaner doesn’t cut it AND IS NOT SAFE.

4) I WANT THE VEHICLE PICKED UP. WE NEED A LIKE LOANER VEHICLE NOW. TODAY, NOT NEXT MONDAY. WE HAVE ALREADY “WAITED OUR TURN IN LINE”. (10-31 to 12-1) The lack of service on her existing vehicle and smaller loaner car with no studded tires has crippled her ability to do business, negatively impacted her family holidays and jeopardized the safety of her family.

When I explained my concerns as above to the two young men at Lithia, I was met with “star struck” looks from both, combined with generic excuses as to the conditions and remedies surrounding a loaner and the repairs. I was told no loaner was available for a few days or more, and studded tires are a no, “we can’t do that”. Again, this is unacceptable. I told Lithia’s representative we would rent a vehicle and send them the bill. He said to contact Hyundai? So, I am contacting everyone I can think of.

In conclusion, I like these cars, but due to the dealership and the treatment we have received, just like my youngest daughter, we will never buy another vehicle from Lithia.

We would greatly appreciate any persuasion or corrections you may be able to instill in regard to our treatment under warranty by this particular representative of your products.

It’s sad that your dealership is not up to the same caliber and quality as your manufacturing.

Respectfully:

Jack Forshee

Cc: Hyundai Corporation NHTSA Alaska BBB carcomplaints.com Alaska Insurance Commissioner NCCDB Senator Lisa Murkowski consumerreports.org American Automobile Association etour.com USAA Insurance Company mycarvoice.com Hyundai Warranty mydatcp Alaska Consumer Complaints postgazette.com Twitter allvehiclescomplaint.com Facebook Craigslist

Purchased the car July 2018. Started to notice some hesitation/shaking when slowing down, and occasional problems accelerating, like the car hesitates and then takes off very fast. Gradually the problem became worse, so I took in in to Napleton Hyundai where I purchased the car. They had the car for 1 day, ran all the testing and basically told me they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. It could possibly have something to do with the "dual transmission" but there is nothing to fix. I had a 2012 Tucson and loved it, and actually gave it to my daughter. I am not happy with this car, mostly because I feel there is something wrong that they will not acknowledge.

I have a 2018 Hyundai Tucson bought new in April of 2019. It has a dual clutch transmission. The car will have delayed or no acceleration, jerking, shuddering, or stalling. The dealer reset the transmission which helped some, but I was told it will come back again. They could put in a new transmission, but again the problem will return.

Hyundai had problems with this transmission in earlier models but they still put it in the 2018 model. There are class actions suits and recalls for the Tucson. But I can't seem to find something for the 2018 Tucson. Hyundai need to buy this car back. It has other problems beside this. It isn't safe to drive.